Philoxenia; A radical approach to friendship is a discourse of friendship that, according to Gandhi, finds its existence through philoxenia, “a love for guests, strangers, and foreigners.” Ghandi continues that “philoxenic solidarities are .. emotionally risky.

You will study the creative process of a learner as he elaborated on the idea of ‘My personal Quest for English’.

TASK 2. Read the text on next page and answer the question below.

Q1. The task demanded was write a 200-word composition about The quest for English. Do you consider it a successful text? ..............................................................................................

#1. In old times, wise knights gathered around a round table and decided to set off for the quest of the grail, the holly goblet. It is written that they spoke English, not the modern one but the ancient one.

#2. Nowadays, we know that the Grail was but a symbol, but the adventures those knights carried on have brought us many good pages of literature, the basis of modern novels and a reference to English language. Centuries have gone by and that language that was spoken by the inhabitants of a small kingdom has become the most important one in the world, the international language, and many citizens around the world are in the quest of English language knowledge. It’s a quest without swords, without horses, without bloody battles but with pencils, books, disks, .. The goal is not anything material, but a more useful tool, the knowledge of a language, English in this case.

QUEST …An old fashioned or literary word. A Quest is a long and difficult search for something, especially something that you value.*

* Definition from COBUILD COLLINS Dictionary

Q2. Formally the text has three parts. The content evolves with past time, present time and the quotation from a source. Do you think they are well connected? How successful are they in getting the reader interested? Does the text ends abruptly? Elaborate.

Q5. Perhaps you can we improve the ending with ‘which I will explore in our next assignment’. Would you agree? .......................................................................................................................

LANGUAGE STUDY.

TASK 3. Answer to the underlined parts that are not fully understood at the first reading.

1# In old times, wise knights gathered around a round table and decided to set off for the quest of the grail, the hol[l]y goblet. It’s written that they spoke English, not the modern one but the ancient.

Q1. Can we write it somehow more precisely? ............................................................................

2 # Nowadays, we know that the Grail was but a symbol, but ...

Q2. but ... but? Unclear. Can we write it somehow more precisely? ..........................................................................................................................................

3 # ... but the adventures those knights carried on have brought us <3> many good pages of literature, the basis of modern novels and a reference to English language.

Q3. How many things did it bring us, according to the writer? Can we improve the write it with better punctuatuon or something? .....................................................................................

4 # Centuries have gone by and that language that was spoken by the inhabitants of a small kingdom has become the most important one in the world, the international language, and many citizens around the world are in the quest of English languageknowledge.

Q4. Couple of things related to syntax. Three subjects, reference: the use of ‘and’ twice (see underlined items); the item language is present 4 times (see italics) Can we improve the write it splitting it in two sentences keeping as close to it as it gets? ..........................................................................................................................................

5# many citizens around the world are in the quest of English languageknowledge.

Q5. Semantics: ends and means. How to relate English language with ‘citizens and knowledge’? Agents (Citizens) use the tool (language) to aim at a goal (knowledge).

Try to improve the wording with something along ‘while learning it ...’ / ‘by using it ....’ / cleft sentence .................................................................................................................................................

6 # It’s a quest without swords, without horses, without bloody battles but with pencils, books, disks, ....

Q6. Grammar. ‘but with 1,2,3, ...’ doesn’t balance the three repeated prepositions. Can we show a better style? .......................................................................................................................

Compare both versions below and decide if you approve all edited changes.

Task. Write a 200 word text about The Quest for English

In old times,wise knights gathered around a round table and decided to set off for the quest of the grail, the holly goblet. It is written that they spoke English, not the modern one but the ancient one.

Nowadays, we know that the Grail was but a symbol, but the adventures those knights carried on have brought us many good pages of literature, the basis of modern novels and a reference to English language. Centuries have gone by and that language that was spoken by the inhabitants of a small kingdom has become the most important one in the world, the international language, and many citizens around the world are in the quest of English language knowledge. It’s a quest without swords, without horses, without bloody battles but with pencils, books, disks, .. The goal is not anything material, but a more useful tool, the knowledge of a language, English in this case.

QUEST …An old fashioned or literary word. A Quest is a long and difficult search for something, especially something that you value.*

*Definition from COBUILD COLLINS Dictionary

by Jordi G.

EDITED Text A.

The Quest for English

In old times, wise knights gathered around a round table and decided to set off for the quest of the grail, the holy goblet. It is written that they spoke a local tongue, not Shakespeare’s variety but the Anglo-saxon one. Nowadays, we know that the Grail was understood as a symbol, but the adventures those legendary knights carried on have brought us some unmistakable landmarks: many good pages of literature, the basis of modern novels and a reference to English language.

Centuries have gone by and that minor language that was spoken by the inhabitants of a small kingdom has spread worldwide, becoming the most important lingua franca in the world. By learning it, many citizens around the world are in the quest of English language knowledge.

It’s a peculiar quest you ride with no horses, neither swords, nor bloody battles but equipped with light luggage: pencils, books, modems, USB pencils and so on. The goal is nothing material, but a more useful tool, the knowledge of a substancial resource: English in this case. Talking of which, I browsed my COBUILD COLLINS Dictionary and found this: “QUEST …An old fashioned or literary word. A Quest is a long and difficult search for something, especially something that you value” and will unveiled my personal quest for English in our next assignment.

by Jordi G.

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For a lovely adventure with English and music read José Miguel’s report (next page)